Related papers: Ariel Planetary Interiors White Paper
The goal of the Ariel space mission is to observe a large and diversified population of transiting planets around a range of host star types to collect information on their atmospheric composition. The planetary bulk and atmospheric…
The study of extrasolar planets and of the Solar System provides complementary pieces of the mosaic represented by the process of planetary formation. Exoplanets are essential to fully grasp the huge diversity of outcomes that planetary…
Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will study what exoplanets are…
Since the first discovery of an extra-solar planet around a main-sequence star, in 1995, the number of detected exoplanets has increased enormously. Over the past two decades, observational instruments (both onboard and on ground-based…
Since the discovery of the first extrasolar planet more than twenty years ago, we have discovered nearly four thousand planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Current observational instruments (on board the Hubble Space Telescope,…
The growing body of atmospheric observations of exoplanets from space and ground-based facilities showcases how the great diversity of the planetary population is not limited to their physical properties but extends to their compositions.…
Astronomical surveys have identified numerous exoplanets with bulk compositions that are unlike the planets of the Solar System, including rocky super-Earths and gas-enveloped sub-Neptunes. Observing the atmospheres of these objects…
Determining the composition of giant exoplanets is crucial for understanding their origin and evolution. However, the planetary bulk composition is not measured directly but must be deduced from a combination of mass-radius measurements,…
Ariel has been selected as ESA's M4 mission for launch in 2028 and is designed for the characterisation of a large and diverse population of exoplanetary atmospheres to provide insights into planetary formation and evolution within our…
The ESA Ariel mission has been adopted for launch in 2029 and will conduct a survey of around one thousand exoplanetary atmospheres during its primary mission life. By providing homogeneous datasets, with a high SNR and wide wavelength…
Aims: The secondary atmospheres of terrestrial planets form and evolve as a consequence of interaction with the interior over geological time. We aim to quantify the influence of planetary bulk composition on the interior--atmosphere…
Automatic scheduling techniques are becoming a crucial tool for the efficient planning of large astronomical surveys. A specific scheduling method is being designed and developed for the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet…
The characterisation of giant exoplanets is crucial to constrain giant planet formation and evolution theory and for putting the solar-system's giant planets in perspective. Typically, mass-radius (M-R) measurements of moderately irradiated…
The Ariel mission will characterise the chemical and thermal properties of the atmospheres of about a thousand exoplanets transiting their host star(s). The observation of such a large sample of planets will allow to deepen our…
In 2020 the European Space Agency selected Ariel as the next mission to join the space fleet of observatories to study planets outside our Solar System. Ariel will be devoted to the characterisation of a thousand planetary atmospheres, for…
Atmospheric characterization through spectroscopic analysis, an essential tool of modern exoplanet science, can benefit significantly from the context provided by interior structure models. In particular, the planet's bulk metallicity $Z_p$…
Low-mass planets have an extraordinarily diverse range of bulk compositions, from primarily rocky worlds to those with deep gaseous atmospheres. As techniques for measuring the masses of exoplanets are advancing the field towards the…
Transiting exoplanet atmospheric characterization is currently in a golden age as dozens of exoplanet atmospheres are being studied by NASA's Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. This trend is expected to continue with NASA's Pandora…
The European Space Agency's Ariel mission will conduct a survey of the atmospheric properties of exoplanets around bright stars. The mission is nominally divided into three Tiers. The Tier 1 survey will consist of low-precision observations…
Remote sensing observations suffer significant limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our solar system. This impacts our knowledge of the formation of these planets and the physics of their…